Audi will change CEO Markus Duesmann with Volkswagen Group technique chief Gernot Doellner.

Doellner will take over from Duesmann on Sept. 1, Audi stated in an announcement on Thursday.

Duesman’s future had been unsure following a lot of mishaps and gradual progress on innovation that has seen the luxurious model fall behind rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Audi is in search of to meet up with rivals within the sprint in the direction of electrification, together with in China, the world’s prime automobile market.

Duesmann, 54, has led Audi, VW’s money cow alongside Porsche, since 2021. Throughout the former BMW govt’s tenure, Audi partly helmed VW’s ill-fated software program efforts which have delayed key fashions.

Earlier this month VW Group CEO Oliver Blume singled out Audi’s gradual progress on innovation as a key space of concern. 

Doellner holds a level in mechanical engineering. He joined VW Group in 1993 and subsequently served in a lot of administration roles at VW’s Porsche division, together with head of idea improvement and head of the Panamera sequence.

“I am honored and excited to be taking over this new position. Audi is a improbable firm with a wealthy historical past,” Doellner stated. “I stay up for shaping the corporate’s future along with the complete workforce at Audi.”

Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this report